State Tax

Our article AZ Companies Win Preferential Tax Treatment for Solar Panelswas recently published in State Tax Notes. The article analyzes a favorable opinion by the Arizona Supreme Court in a case brought by SolarCity and SunRun. The Arizona Supreme Court that held that an Arizona law allowing taxpayers to attribute no value for property tax purposes to solar panels leased to customers did not violate the Arizona Constitution.

On May 4, 2017, Maryland became the first state in the country to offer a tax credit for energy storage systems with Governor Larry Hogan’s (R) signing of Senate Bill No. 758 (available here).

The law provides a tax credit for certain costs of installing an energy storage system. Energy storage systems include systems used to store electrical energy, or mechanical, chemical, or thermal energy that was once electrical energy, for use as electrical energy at a later date or in a process that offsets electricity use at peak times. The tax credit is not limited to storage systems that are charged by renewable energy sources.[1] The tax credit is up to $5,000 for a system installed on a residential property and the lesser of $75,000 and 30 percent of the cost of the energy storage system for a system installed on a commercial property (which presumably would include a utility). The tax credit would apply to systems installed between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2022. The tax credit may only be used to offset Maryland income tax liability (i.e., it cannot be applied against other types of Maryland taxes such as excise tax) and may not be carried forward to another taxable year. The law sets a limit of $750,000 on the aggregate tax credits issued to all taxpayers in a taxable year; such credits to be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. Continue Reading Maryland Enacts First in the Nation Energy Storage Tax Credit

On April 17, 2017, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law House Bill No. 2298, which moves the deadline for a wind project to be operational to qualify for the state’s production tax credit for wind power to June 30, 2017 – three and a half years earlier than the December 31, 2020 deadline under prior law. The state’s tax credit is a $0.0050 per kilowatt-hour credit for electricity generated by eligible zero-emission facilities. The credit is available for 10 years from the date the project becomes operational and is refundable for up to 85 percent of its face amount. Eligible zero-emission facilities are those located in the state that produce electricity from wind, moving water, sun or geothermal energy, and have a rated capacity of one megawatt or greater. The bill does not change the sunset date for the credit for any type of eligible facility other than wind (i.e., the end date for solar, moving water and geothermal facilities remains at January 1, 2021). In addition, all existing wind farms and those that are operational before July 1 of this year will continue to receive the 10-year production credit under the same terms as previous law. Continue Reading Oklahoma State PTC Ends for Wind Projects Not Operating Prior to July 1, 2017

On March 9, 2017, Oklahoma’s House of Representatives passed H.B. 2298, which would end the Oklahoma production tax credit for wind energy production three and a half years earlier than current law. This measure was first proposed in Governor Fallin’s 2018 Executive Budget. See our prior coverage.

The bill provides a July 1, 2017 sunset date for wind facilities to be eligible for the zero-emission tax credits. Wind facilities must be placed in operation prior to that date to be eligible for the tax credits. The rate of the tax credit is unchanged at 0.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Interestingly, the early deadline only applies with respect to electricity generated by wind. The bill retains the original January 1, 2021 deadline for other zero-emission facilities, such as solar or geothermal facilities. However, the vast majority of zero-emission energy production in Oklahoma is from wind. Continue Reading Oklahoma House Votes for Early Sunset of State Wind PTC

“PACE” – Is it the new buzzword? Lately, it seems I keep hearing about securitizations backed by PACE financings. What is a PACE financing program, and what is happening in the securitization market?

“PACE” stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy. Under PACE programs, municipalities and counties form special tax districts to help residential, commercial or industrial property owners finance energy efficient upgrades or renewable energy installations to their properties through payments of additional property taxes. While the specific details vary by state, the basic premise is that the property owner is allowed to finance 100 percent of the cost of the energy property through increased property tax assessments – the “PACE” assessments. The PACE assessments are typically for 15 to 20 years and operate similar to loan payments in that these property tax payments repay the initial financing cost for the energy upgrade. The PACE assessments, however, are legally property tax assessments and, thus, have the benefit of being secured by senior liens against the taxpayer’s property.

The way the financing works is specific to the individual programs, but the funds typically come from some form of private / public partnership, which allows the state or municipality to encourage identified property upgrades to achieve environmental and energy efficiency goals without having to raise funding, and provides investors with new opportunities to invest in a secure asset in the green energy space. The benefit to the property owner is typically the ability to realize immediate cost savings in reduced energy costs while paying for the improvement over a 15 to 20 year period, and also being able to finance 100 percent of the cost. Continue Reading “PACE” for Residential and Commercial Renewable Energy Projects – What is it?

Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin (R) recently released her proposed 2018 Executive Budget, which includes two new anti-wind tax proposals.[1] The first proposal would end the zero-emission tax credit for wind facilities placed in service after 2017. The second proposal would begin taxing the production of wind energy at $0.005 per KwH produced.

Oklahoma is facing a budget shortfall that has been projected to be nearly $900 million. One of the primary causes of the revenue shortfall is less tax revenue due to low oil prices and an increase in wind energy production resulting in greater tax credits. Governor Fallin’s tax proposals would reduce the amount of tax credits available for wind energy production and increase revenue by imposing a new production tax of electricity generated by wind.[2]Continue Reading Oklahoma Gov. Proposes New Tax on Wind, Early End to Wind Tax Credits

Below is a link to my presentation addressing state tax credits to Tax Executives International’s New Orleans chapter. The presentation (i) discusses the federal tax treatment of state tax credits, (ii) outlines several transaction structures involving both state tax credits and the federal investment tax credit and (iii) provides an overview of renewable energy state tax credit opportunities in various states.

Wyoming lawmakers are considering increasing the current state excise tax imposed on wind energy production. Wyoming has more than 1,400 MW of installed wind capacity and is the only state to tax wind energy production. Wyoming is now considering becoming more of an outlier by increasing its tax on wind energy, while other states are providing incentives.

David Burton discusses a recent ruling from the Missouri Department of Revenue that is intended to address the sales tax consequences of a synthetic lease transaction. Burton argues that the DOR misapplied the term ‘‘synthetic lease,’’ leaving taxpayers without reliable guidance.

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